


The Maiden of Leifeng Pagoda

by BlueBookBadger



Category: Darker Than Black
Genre: F/M, Gen, Other, idk when imma update this but imma try. college is gonna be stressful as fuck my dudes.
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-07-06 13:03:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15886602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueBookBadger/pseuds/BlueBookBadger
Summary: PANDORA and the Syndicate were successful. The Saturn Ring Project was completed. Hell’s Gate closed, the land returned to normalcy and every oddity and phenomenon was vanquished. Heaven’s Gate opened, the land unchanged after five years and the people in the affected area aged, but alive and well. Every contractor and doll on the planet was eliminated. Well, almost every one.





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> Have I watched the first season? Yes. Did I rewatch the last episode to write this? No. So I apologize for any inconsistencies with the original series. This has been in my head a while and I thought it would be nice to share it (even though the fandom is kind of dead lol ;n;). This just assumes Amber never reached out to touch Hei with the Meteor Fragment and that almost everything went according to plan for PANDORA (and the Syndicate). So from this chapter onwards this is going to be a very solid canon divergence, and slow burn romance ^w^ Enjoy!

“Please, wait!” Misaki lunged forward, the static filled image on the screen flickering slightly. “BK201 isn’t going to cause the Explosion, he’s not sure what to do, please, wait!” Horai held her back, his hand holding her arm firmly. His expression was stoic but bordered on annoyance. There was nothing she could do. Schroeder finished his countdown.  
  
“...3...2...1!” Her eyes returned to the screen, the image filling with static as a wave of heat seemed to decend over the building. There was silence.  
  
“Is...that it?” Nishijima muttered, apparently disappointed by the anticlimactic result, turning to the doctor. Schroeder pointed to the window, a pinprick of light shining in the distance.  
  
“No,” He laughed, shielding his eyes as the light grew closer before rapidly expanding, “That is it!” The wave of light, sparkling with arcs of electrical energy, surged through the building. It would spread across the globe in a matter of minutes, the momentary wave of warmth and flash of light the only indicator that a decade long phenomenon had finally ended. It was over. Every contractor would cease to be, and every Doll would too. Misaki’s shoulders fell, the weight of the genocide she had just witnessed settling above her. Horai released her arm and folded his hands.  
  
“The world is safer now,” He said, as though to comfort her. Misaki grit her teeth, sharp eyes shooting a restrained glare. She wanted no sympathy from a man who agreed to the deaths of hundreds of people, even if they were contractors. There was a startled gasp from Nishijima, his eyes staring at the monitor. He grabbed Schroeder by his lab coat, face contorted in fury and confusion.  
  
“How?” He asked simply, voice shaking in his anger. “How?” Schroeder too turned stared at the screen, mouth agape. The girl in the pink dress lay still on the ground, as did the young woman with white hair, but near them, a black form writhed on the ground, legs and arms fighting against agony. Finally, it stilled, but then a worse image came across the pixelated screen. BK201 sat up, his face obscured by the poor video quality. He survived. “How?” 

* * *

It felt as though every atom in his body had been set on fire. Every vein had been drained of blood and filled with acid. Beneath his skin a thousand needles crawled, separating flesh from skin then crudely sewing everything back together, but wrong, as though gaps too wide had been left by the sloppy needlework. Even his bones, the only part of him that still felt there, felt as though they had been stripped of any strength, and bound in barbed wire as to make every gasp and twitch more painful.  
  
What felt like years was mere moments after the flash of light, the pain only lasting seconds, but it’s intensity sending him unconscious. He didn’t even remember hitting the ground. By the time he opened his eyes the light was gone, and to his right, Amber lay unmoving.  
  
Amber’s younger body seemed so much smaller, her glassy eyes frozen open, and her hand still clutching the now powerless clear disk. Her skin had paled, her lips blued by the hue of death. Even her hair seemed like straw, lifeless and dull. Hand still shaking from the memory of the pain, Hei closed her eyelids, the skin cold and waxy to the touch. He sighed, bringing his hand to his face. He couldn’t do it. Why? It was in his best interest that the threat to his kind be eliminated. Bai had done it. She had taken the lives of hundreds at Heaven’s Gate to save contractors. Why couldn’t he? The little voice in the back of his head, his own inner voice, echoed his thoughts.  
  
‘Because you’re not a real contractor. Because the part of you that is a contractor isn’t you. It’s her. And now she's gone.’ He breathed deeply, the air seeming lighter than it had minutes ago. None of that mattered. It was done. And Amber couldn’t take them back to try again. She was gone. All contractors were gone. So were all the dolls. His head whipped around, a silent cry rising in his chest. She looked so peaceful, her eyes closed and hands beneath her head. Like a sleeping child. His hand shook as he brushed a few strands of silvery hair from her face, but the physical pain was gone. Her cheeks were still warm, her lips flush with life. Though pale her skin bounced back from his touch, and a flutter of hope rose in his chest.  
  
He sat up, and placed his head to Yin’s chest. Silence. He kept his head there, the sorrow like a blow to his ribs. But then there was a beat, slow, but steady. He kept listening. Yes, she had a heartbeat, and taking his head from her fragile chest he watched the slight rise and fall of her breaths. Yin was alive. At least for now.  
  
Hei had to restrain a chuckle. He was supposed to be the only one left. He was supposed to be alone. But she was here with him. She wouldn’t leave him all alone, just as he wouldn’t abandon her. Sunlight, which hadn’t really touched Hell’s Gate in almost a decade, peered over the wall, drenching the long abandoned courtyard in golden warmth. They had lost. It was really over. He looked at Yin, knowing in his heart that despite appearances she might not remain with him. He got up, standing with wobbling legs. Though the agony had left, he body had been thoroughly exhausted by the ordeal. He didn’t know if he would even make it to the wall, let alone escape it. But he looked at her face, the blessed expression of peaceful dreams filling his weakened bones with determination, and he knew what he had to do.

* * *

“You can’t kill him! Not yet, anyway,” Schroeder argued, Nishijima’s orders to the armored trucks, tanks, and soldiers unimpeded by the researcher’s pleas. “His mere existence is of incredible scientific curiosity, and what’s more is that he should be completely powerless-”  
  
“Contractor abilities or none, he is a trained killer. We can’t approach without security and safety measures in place,” Horai interjected, arms folded. He turned to Nishijima, staring down the younger man with calculated superiority. “Let your men be in position, but do not fire unless BK201 is actively attacking. Your caution has credence, Nishijima, but Schroeder is also correct. He could prove quite valuable to us, alive.” For a brief moment Nishijima opened his mouth to retort the order, but to Misaki’s surprise, he nodded tensely and continued giving orders with the explicit mention of holding fire. Schroeder clapped his hands together, his eyes maniacal with his excitement.  
  
“Fantastic! I’m sure we have a cell that’ll be just right for Mr. BK201, just in case he still has some tricks up his sleeves. Mr. Horai and Mr. Nishijima, please try not to damage it too much.” Misaki bit her tongue, knowing any sentiments against PANDORA and its research would not be taken lightly in this company. “You, there,” Schroader hovered over one of the scientists who had the camera focused on BK201. “What is he doing? Where’s he going?” The researcher tapped a few keys of his computer. The image was still blurry, but it was clear the contractor had picked up the young woman, leaving the girl in pink behind. “Follow them!” Schroeder cried, and the panicked scientist switched to a few different cameras before finding the two figures again.  
  
“He’s going to the entrance,” Misaki said, seeing the road he took. Without the anomalous effects of the Gate, it would lead straight to the war torn section of the Wall, where just hours ago dozens of contractors from the EPR had fought to the death with the security forces. 

* * *

The air was rank, the smell of still smoldering bodies and death hitting him like a wall as he turned down the final street to reach the Wall. Down the road he could see the PANDORA security forces, in their bulletproof vests and face shields, creating a blockade of tanks and armors vehicles, with soldiers and their rifles lined up in formation. Yin’s breathing was growing slow, her body paper light in his arms.  
  
Hei had no intention of escaping, if they knew he was within the Walls they would find him, and life without Yin, on the other side of the Wall, wouldn’t be worth living. At least this way, they might die together, or maybe they would help her survive at the cost of his life. He was surprised they let him walk this close, faces of researchers and staff growing clearer. He saw her face for only a moment, Misaki herself focused on the energetic conversation between Schroeder and Nishijima.  
He took a deep breath, the familiar weight of his mask absent. There was no point in hiding now. He was the only one left. Only a few hundred yards left. Nishijima lifted a megaphone, his voice holding a calculated arrogance.  
  
“Stop, BK201.” Hei stopped. He had nothing to gain from disobedience. Not now. His compliance seemed to be a bit of a surprise to the scientists and those from the police force. The beat of silence became minutes. Yin was growing colder. He started walking again. “Stop, or we will use deadly force.” Hei kept walking. If they wanted him dead they would have shot him long ago. Less than a hundred yards. Misaki was looking at him now. She recognized him. But Li Shengshun didn’t have those eyes, or that frown. He didn’t carry a young woman in a blue dress in his arms. Li Shengshun wasn’t real. The man with exhaustion etched into his face and sorrow welling in his eyes had killed him, leaving BK201 the last man standing.  
  
Hei stopped only a couple of yards away, the erratic breathing and growing impatience of the soldiers evident in every twitch and glance. They wanted to get this over with. Yin’s breath still stirred the air, and he couldn’t do anything more to help her. He met the eyes of Nishijima, seeing the brief flicker of uncertainty in the other man’s eyes. He wanted Hei alive, but he wasn’t going to risk too much to ensure so. Holding his gaze, Hei slowly dropped to one knee, then the other, carefully lowering Yin to the ground. It pained him to leave her there, on the cold, blood soaked gravel, but he couldn’t help her anymore.  
  
He stayed on his knees, watching the soldiers. They were tense, their fingers hovering over the triggers than floating away, heads turning to Nishijima than back to the Black Reaper. Misaki finally gathered her thoughts, the silence becoming unbearable.  
  
“If he was going to do something he would have done it by now,” She whispered, Horai and Nishijima turning to her.  
“It could be a trap, the girl could have a bomb or -”  
  
“She’s a doll,” Schroeder spoke up, eyes fixed on the sleeping woman. “And she’s still alive,” Nishijima was angry, but he couldn’t lash out in front of BK201 and the doll as he had on the observation deck.  
  
“If they survived, how do we know this project wasn’t a complete failure? They were at the epicenter of the Gate, how could they have endured but every other one perish?  
Misaki’s phone rang, the ringtone light and cheery in spite of the mood. She opened it quickly, and walked away, not wanting BK201 to see the distraction. Stepping behind one of the tanks, and ignoring the curious soldiers, she answered.  
  
“Kirihara, what is it?” She asked curtly. Saito’s voice rang loud and clear on the other end, no interference from the Gate to obscure his words.  
“It’s a little chaotic out here,” He said, the sounds of sirens and a crowd speaking making its way over the line. “Some people are dropping like flies, it’s really spooking the public. What should I tell them?”  
  
“The press?” Misaki felt a wave of anxiety crash into her ribs. The project was successful, but that meant bodies were falling faster than normal, and the public needed an answer.  
“A rare strain of disease, genetically inherited.” Horai said, casually leaning against the tank, his eyes watching Misaki’s reaction. “The public cannot know that contractors lived and killed among them for so long.” She challenged his gaze.  
  
“This is an international crisis, you just killed hundreds in a matter of seconds, you can’t give an explanation like that-”  
  
“Other countries will find their own scapegoats. But we need to answer swiftly, and with confidence. The public still trusts the police, and they will trust our answer.” Horai held his head tall, but the increasing argument between Schroeder and Nishijima back at the front line caught his attention. He gave Misaki a final glance. “Telling them the truth will only incite panic, fear, and anger, and unless you are prepared to handle that, I would suggest a more gentle approach. The next UN meeting will convene soon, and PANDORA will finally be dissolved having completed its objective.” She restrained herself from mentioning that the objective of outright genocide was not something to celebrate.  
  
“Kirihara?” Saito asked, still waiting on the phone for her response. She sighed, and lifted the phone to her ear.  
  
“The Saturn Ring Project was successful, and every contractor and doll has been eliminated. You can’t tell them that. Not yet, anyway. Spin it as a coincidence, a lot of sudden deaths related to a genetic disease, probably reacting to that heat wave a bit ago.” She explained, rubbing her arm where Horai had grabbed her. It might bruise. “I’ll talk to you more later but, please, keep this quiet, and keep the media satisfied.”  
  
Hanging up, she walked around the tank, back to Nishijima and Schroeder, who seemed to have settled their differences. BK201 now held his hands up, and had shuffled further from the girl. A group of soldiers was advancing, their guns held steady as they grew closer.  
  
His eyes weren’t angry, or fearful. Tears didn’t well in his eyes, but she could see the sadness that crept across his features. He was tired, and unresistant as the soldiers shackled his hands, the special electricity absorbing cuffs thrown together in mere moments by frantic researchers. They force him face down in the rubble, the anesthesia administered by a soldier with a needle. He didn’t look at her. He couldn’t, his dark eyes slowly clouding as the drug took effect, then sliding closed.  
  
Misaki could feel the relief fill the soldiers, and the tension all but evaporated in the early morning sun. But she couldn’t take her eyes from BK201, the gears of her mind turning, as she tried to rationalize the past 12 hours of her life, and predict the new future laid before the entire planet. 

* * *

She hadn’t felt rain in a very long time. Sure, she had seen it. Heard it. Smelled it. But to feel the cold rain on her own skin, to feel the droplets gather on her eyelashes and trickle down her cheeks, that was a sensation from which she had been deprived of for many years. Her uniform was soaked, the already skin tight bulletproof material clinging to her fragile form. She could feel mud between her fingers, and rocks beneath her toes. Her head rested upon a piece of wood, probably a log.  
  
For a long time she simply laid there, not thinking about the pointless sacrifices, the vain suffering, but about the rain that gathers on her forehead and ran through her dark hair. Though she felt no pain, her bones were reluctant to move, stiffly pulling the recently remade body from its resting place. She lifted her head first, then moved her arms to support herself, her knees curling to her chest. She shivered. The sky was dark, the twilight of evening familiar in this jungle. Witha deep breath she stood, and looked to the sky.  
  
Stars. Real stars. Tears welled in her eyes for the first time in almost a decade. She had almost forgotten what the moon looked like. Bai lifted her hand, tracing the constellations in the air. She needed to find him. If he was still here.


	2. Three Treasures

For hours she trekked through mosquito bitten forest, the ground damp and soft beneath her bare feet. Shoes would impede her already dampened ability to send an electrical surge through the moist earth, but they would be much more comfortable than the soggy leaf litter. Her body felt out of place, as though some structural miscommunication occurred when the Gates were closed. She felt taller, lankier, and discombobulated. So long without one’s own physical form could do that to you, plus, five years of growth a quite a bit to catch up on in a matter of seconds.  
  
Though the stars faded into day light, she knew her path through the familiar jungle, and wove through marshlands and thickets towards her destination. For a long while Bai felt no tiredness, no hunger or thirst impeded her carefully calculated journey. At first each step flew by, kilometers and hours traversed in the blink of an eye. But now, with the sun’s rays dimming through the heavy canopy, her feet dragged her exhausted body onward, the lack of sleep and drink and food forcing her to collapse by a pond.  
  
The water was murky, and she could see insect larvae twitching on its surface. Taking a stick, she stirred the muddied waters, hoping to push away the worst of the wriggling creatures away, though she knew to filter the water first. She filled a flask from her waist and stared down at the murky water with blurring vision. Her contractor senses would always have alerted her to any impending danger like this sickening dehydration, why now had they ceased?  
  
She knew why. She wasn’t supposed to be here, she was supposed to be with Hei. But something happened. Something terrible. Closing her eyes, Bai sifted through the foggy helf remembered five years, trying to find where it had gone wrong, when he had stopped forgetting her. When he actively looked for her. She tightened her grip on the flask. Why couldn’t he have just forgotten? She had. She had forgotten so much of herself to keep them both alive. If he had forgotten too, if he had at least given a her a little faith, they would be together. No one would be able to take one from the other, not if he had done what he was supposed to do.  
  
There was a spark, the metal rim of the flask growing red with the electrical heat. She nearly dropped the cup in surprise but managed to catch it without spilling too much of the now purified water. Larvae, microorganisms, and algae drifted to the surface of the container and wafted into the air, disintegrating into their individual chemical components before her eyes. It had been so long since she used her powers. She braced, placing the flask between her knees and leaning against a tree stump. No sleep came. No blissful wave of darkness muffled her senses and gave her peace.  
  
With hesitance, Bai sat up, looking down at the fresh water into her flask. She observed it cautiously, feeling through her abilities every atom within the container. H₂O. Over, and over, and over again. Billions, trillions of molecules with no impurities. She took a sip, the water warm but refreshing her dehydration dulled senses. It didn’t sit well with her, the fact that she no longer had any Obeisance to observe. The Gate was gone, and so were the contractors, but a price had to remain. Something didn’t come from nothing. There was always equivalent exchange.  
  
She stood, and began to walk across the pond, making a mental note to limit the use of her abilities until. Something sharp struck her bare foot, and she fell into the shallow muck with a cry of pain. She sat, and brought her foot to her face, the cut bleeding profusely and stinging as the contaminated water wove its diseases into her flesh. Without even willing so her abilities reacted to such a wound, the pond water forced back and the flesh stitched together, only a light line of quick working internal healing evidence of injury. Taking a breath she steadied herself in the mud, and turned to see what she had tripped on.  
  
The skull was complete, the teeth the broken but entire lower jar the source of her pain. She stood quickly, seeing the form of the body take place in the water. A ribcage, then below it the spinal column, then the pelvis, legs – it was long dead, but the sudden dread which filled her was an alien feeling. Something that she had forgotten a decade ago. Fear.  
  
The body she stumbled upon wasn’t the only one in the pond. With her eyes now permanently acclimated to every curve and dip of the skeletons, she now saw more. Five, ten, twenty – there were too many to count. Some were piled upon others, yet a few lay in crumpled piles, curling up defensively in their last moments. Familiar. The unfamiliar fear that filled her just moments ago was followed by an instantly recognizable successor. Guilt.  
  
It hit her hard and fast, ten years of repressed emotions she couldn’t express coming over her and crashing like a sucker punch right below her ribs. Rationally, she was sound. They were going to kill her. They were going to kill Hei. They were trying to exterminate an entire race of beings. But some of those skulls she knew, she could feel their eyes in the empty sockets. Eyes like hers, dull, tired, and fighting because they were told it was the only way to survive.  
  
She felt back to her knees and retched, the water pure but her conscious as dark the muddied pond water. For the first time in so long, she felt an intense nostalgia, a craving for innocence and simplicity. Something to remind her she wasn’t always this person, a contractor. A killer. Bai grabbed her hair in her hands, shaking as she fell to her knees.  
  
There had to be something. Some memory of bliss and happiness her mind had kept room for, something she hadn’t pushed so far into the recesses of her mind that she would never reach it in her waking hours. She couldn’t find anything. She couldn’t remember what Hei’s face looked like when he was younger, when he looked at the sky with wonder as she once did. She couldn’t smell her Grandfather’s cooking or feel her Grandmother’s hands. She couldn’t feel the rocking of a boat or hear the school bell ring. She couldn’t even imagine it. Only the skeletons in the shallow grave around her would hear her scream.  


* * *

“Psst, Hei? You awake?” He turned over in his bed, kick the sheet off. It was a humid but cool night, clear starlight glimmering through the window. He grunted, mumbling incoherently and waving a hand to shoo away his younger sister. “Please?” He squinted at the little glowing clock on the nightstand. It was almost 1 in the morning.  
  
“Go back to bed, it’s too early,” He flipped onto his other side, Bai’s face cautiously peering over the side of the bed. She pouted but knew her sad blue eyes only persuaded their grandparents.  
  
“Fine,” She said with a huff, putting her hands on her hips, “I’ll go and see the Gemenid Meteor Shower down by the lake, all by myself!” He listened to her small feet stomp quietly from the room, the carpet muffling her angry steps. After a moment of contemplating his choices, he sat up and rubbed his eyes. Grandfather would kill him if he left her by herself. With many yawns and fumbling limbs, he managed to dress himself, changing from his pajamas to something more suitable for the chilly weather outside.  
  
Softly, he crept through the old house, his socks nearly silent in the hardwood hallway. He pushed Bai’s door aside, cringing as its hinges whined. Her room was empty. He turned to her closet door, sighing at the clear part in her dresses and school uniforms. Up the hidden staircase it was difficult to stay quiet, each step creaking under his feet, but he knew his Grandmother would sleep through it. It was his Grandfather he was not so sure about.  
  
He stood at the top of the stairs, watching her stuff a backpack with star maps and a telescope. The walls of the small room ere covered in posters and maps, star stickers on the ceiling carefully arranged to mimic the constellations above the house. The boxes and dusty furniture of the attic had been long converted into a spaceship below the window, the two seats a pair of recycled pizza boxes. Different telescopes, ranging from plastic fakes to a heavy metal and glass contraption that watched the skylight, littered the floor. She finally caught him in the corner of her eye, expression changing from childish curiosity to a façade of anger.  
  
“I’m going by myself, I’m old enough now.” She picked up the back pack, but the telescope was too heavy, and it began to drag her down to one side. Hei managed to catch them both and took the telescope from the backpack.  
  
“How about I carry this? Be your assistant?” Bai was thoughtful for a moment and had that look of calculating thought children get when they think carefully about a choice.  
  
“Fine,” She finally agreed, shrugging the much lighter backpack onto her shoulders once more. “But I get to use it first.”  
  
Together they made their way from the hidden attic to the second floor, and then down to the front door. Though Hei attempted his best to keep quiet, Bai’s excited giggles and skipping seemed to fill the dark home. Luckily, it seemed their grandparents would stay asleep.  
  
The front porch was cool, and in her excitement, Bai had forgotten any shoes for the excursion, but she didn’t seem to mind as she sped down the gravel path, now free from the threat of waking their caretakers.  
  
“Come on!” She exclaimed, breath billowing in small white clouds. “We’re gonna miss it!”  
  
“Wait up!” Hei huffed, the telescope heavy and cumbersome in his arms. Though he was older than her, he was not much stronger, and while her enthusiasm hid from her senses the chill and the frost, Hei felt the icy wind cut through him and bury itself in his bones.  
  
Before making it to the end of the long path that led to the main road, they turned down a side path, cutting through the woods. Above them the spruces shivered, the breeze above sanding the golden leaves of poplars and birches drifting toward the cold earth. The path narrowed the further they went, in some places the brush and shrubs forcing the two to crawl and fight through brambles, but they arrived at its end with only a few scratches and dirty knees.  
  
Their corner of Lugu Lake was a quiet one, other homes, beaches, and buildings obscured by rocky peninsulas and the thick alpine forest. This isolation made traveling to the homes of friends or inviting them over a challenge, but it also left the sky clear of air and light pollutions, the starry nights as clear as day.  
  
Bai dropped her backpack on the sand, ripping some maps from inside to study with intense focus. Hei began to set up the telescope’s stand, its three feet sinking into the sand for better stability. His sister flipped through a few pages of dates and events, double checking the date.  
  
“December 14th?” She asked aloud. Hei, without looking away as he carefully mounted the telescope on its stand, replied,  
  
“December 13th, actually,” He could feel Bai’s moment of disenchantment instantly, “But don’t worry, it only peaks on the 14th, which means we can do this tomorrow morning, if you’re up for it,” He could hear a snort of pride from his younger sibling.  
  
“Of course, I’ll be ready!” She looked out at the sky, the still water of the lake reflecting the stars like a mirror. Setting her maps and schedules down, she walked toward the water, her bare feet red from the cold and covered in dirt and sticks from their walk. Startled, Hei called out.  
  
“Hey, don’t go too deep, you have to walk back, remember?” She turned to him, eyes bright with wonder and joy as she nodded. She walked quite far away, but even a few meters out and the water was yet to rise above her ankles. The hem of her nightgown hovered over the water, which was still warm from yesterday’s sun.  
  
For a while, they just watched. Hei grew tired, his eyes struggling to stay open, while his sister stood stock still in the water. Then, in a flurry of movement, Bai pointed to the sky.  
  
“Look! A shooting star!” Hei returned a sleepy smile to Bai, her face split in a grin.  
  
“You’re supposed to make a wish.”  
  
“For what?”  
  
“Anything. They say if you wish on a shooting star, it’ll come true.” Soon another shooting star streaked past, and Bai quickly clasped her hands and bowed her head, making her wish. Hei thought his quietly to himself. He wanted to do well in the dance performance at the end of the month.  
  
The sky filled with meteors, too many to count as they burned brightly then disappeared.  


* * *

Hei woke up, the bed warm but the sheets thin. He had the dream before, but never did it end so peacefully. For so long he had grown accustomed to fond childhood memories being tainted by the lake turning to blood, Bai looking at him with those tired, dull eyes, her white dress replaced by her suit of orange and black. It was refreshing, to remember how things used to be before the Gates.  
  
Whatever they had drugged him with was strong, and for a long time he was awake but unable to move, or even open his eyes. They felt glued shut, but he could feel the bright white lights above him and around him. Was he dead? A part of him hoped so. Then he could be with all of them. Bai, their parents, Amber…and Yin.  
  
But he could feel the rough texture of the new clothes against his skin, smell the antiseptic and bleach cleaner. He opened his eyes, the burning light slowly fading to a more tolerable intensity.  
  
The bed was situated on the left wall of the room, bare and metal framed, with the feet pointing to what was, judging by the heavy door, the exit. To his right, a “kitchen” composed of bare, white installations and a similarly bare, white table with chairs. His eyes drifted, and saw the chairs and table were bolted down, and listening, he could hear that the appliances in the kitchen had no electricity to power them. There was a wall behind the head of his bed, and upon closer inspection, it had an opening that led to a simple shower head and drain on the left, and he presumed a toilet to the right.  
  
Gathering his strength, he sat up, his head heavy and senses still numbed by the anesthesia. He looked at his hands, remembering how warm Yin still was. Placing his head in his hands, he waited. There was nothing for him to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you don't mind that I will take some creative licence with Bai's abilities - "Molecular Manipulation" is wonderfully vague, and such wording strongly reminded me of the abilities shown in the Fullmetal Alchemist series (no, this is not a crossover, but I am pulling some inspiration from the series' premise of alchemy). On another note, I will try very hard to keep characters "in character" but, with some like Bai, we don't have much to go on, and even Hei's true personality is rarely revealed during the show, so please bear with me if something seems too far fetched for our favorite contractors and mercenaries. Special thanks to Phantasmica and tsuki_llama for their comments and the those who left Kudos! I've never used Ao3 much before, even for reading, and I'm still a bit new to the format, so I apologize in advance if there are any formatting mistakes. Thank you again for reading!


	3. The Flute and the Shepherd

He wasn’t quite sure how long he had been out, or how long he had been awake. There was no time in the void of white that was the room. From the bed he observed the details of the room. The floor was tile, or linoleum, and freezing to the touch. The walls and ceiling had no seams, the room curving to make a vaguely square shaped bubble. But then a pin prick of color caught his eye. He counted them. One behind the kitchen sink, four more by the exit. Several were positioned around the ceiling and near the floor. Such small cameras would be missed by most, but he had used them in his trade enough to recognize the small pin prick of black in a corner or niche.  
  
He couldn’t hide from those dark, peering eyes, the cameras even having full view the shower and toilet. And they knew he could see them, regardless of whether he ran his finger over the small, smooth spot of glass next to the bed and looked deeply into the darkness behind the spot, or not. Of course, they would monitor him, he was their prisoner after all. He felt his face contort in a grimace, the word sour even in thought.  
  
They were not his captors, he chose to surrender to them, to be taken in by them. They wanted something, obviously, or else he would have been shot on sight. They needed him alive, or at least able to give them something they couldn’t take from a corpse.  
  
He held them captive in their own ignorance and lack of knowledge. While he was the only source, he was valuable, but only if he was alive. He could extort better treatment in exchange for information, create a careful balance of give and take. When he couldn’t, or wouldn’t be able to find compromise, that was when he could only focus on weighing who he feared more: those who held him captive for his knowledge, and those who held him captive for his craft.  
  
He had been threatened, drugged, and tortured before for information. It was always the same plan, regardless of situation or location – endure, because they would rely on his fear of death and pain to make him give up the very thing that gave him value to them. If he could hold out longer, they would find another source and lose interest and caution – that was a time to attack. If he could keep from screaming for just another minute, help would come. But here there was no help. Not anymore.  
  
Hands shaking, Hei began to pace the room, counting each tile to calm his nerves. On the 103rd, he could hear a mechanism shift. It seemed distant, and was almost unnoticeable, but the thoughts and memories racing through his mind had reawakened the hypervigilance of his nature, and he stopped pacing. He stood in the middle of the room, just in front of the table and facing his bed. His right ear heard better than his left.  
  
The first mechanism was a code pad, likely electronic. It opened to what sounded like a dial lock, the large contraption clicking for a long time, the subtle release of each lock giving a pretty clear image to the code. The next mechanism, first one key at the top of the door then another at its base, was the last. The sound of the pins sliding over the key teeth was much clearer than the previous devices.  
  
Though he could feel panic rise in his chest as the doors began to creak open, his face assumed its trained expression. To show emotions to the enemy in this context would be to show weakness. He sighed and closed his eyes, knowing the sight of the guards and soldiers would only worsen the anxiety. They marched in, their armor and guns making plastic-like sounds as they moved about, squeaking and clicking. He didn’t recognize the voice that spoke, but it was deep and calm.  
  
“Place your hands one your head, please” Hei hesitated, only because he was taken aback by the politeness of the request. But he knew even the most charming of captors were as dangerous as the most vulgar. “Now.” The voice spoke louder but didn’t seem angry. He complied, stealing a quick glance at the soldiers. They were at the ready, guns heavy with bullets.  
  
They had him stand in front of the wall, eye level with one of the small cameras, as they shackled his legs then his arms. He was surprised they trusted him enough to let his hands be in front of him but judging by the odd humming and blinking lights on the cuffs, he knew better than to trust such a decision as kindness.  
  
The quickness with which the blindfold covered his eyes made it impossible to hide the sharp breath he gulped down, his heart and breathing suddenly much louder. He could hear one soldier give a snicker, while another must have obviously given a chiding glare. With one hand on his left shoulder and another on his right, he was steered from the room. Though his mind raced to the worst thoughts, torture, execution, and worse, he tried to imagine the conversation those soldiers would have later. The Black Reaper, BK-201, scared of the dark. Imagine that? He would sooner gut you than tell you the time, but he can’t handle a few minutes of blindness. He hated killing but wiping any grin from their face would be a divine pleasure.  
  
He walked straight for a long time, counting his steps. 58. They turned right, and he counted anew. 27. He could hear the familiar pulley system of an old elevator whir to life. It must have been large, the whole procession of about ten soldiers managing to board the elevator and still have enough room to form a cautious circle around him. He felt the elevator climb. 6 stories. Or at least 6 different stops. The doors opened, and the blind tour continued. To the left, 28 steps. To the right, 13. They stopped.  
  
He listened to one of the soldiers swipe a card, the electronic beep granting access to the room. Hei couldn’t help but brace himself as they seated him in a cold chair, weaving the chains between his hands so that he was connected to the surface before him. He grit his teeth, and steeled his expression. No emotion. Remain calm. Don’t taunt them. Being logical was in the nature of a contractor, but it was the lifeline of a mercenary. The blindfold was removed, but he kept his eyes shut. The door behind him closed. He was alone.  
  
So long in the dark, his eyes were sensitive to even the dim light of the room, but he quickly gathered his observations. There was a double insulated wall of plexiglass in front of him, a small microphone situated just out of reach before it. One wall had a small set of speakers mounted, the other an inset mirror, which he recognized as likely a one-way mirror there for observation purposes rather than aesthetic.  
  
His appearance was not a pretty sight, and with no mirror in the cell, this was the first of his own face he had seen in a while. He had hardly noticed the scuff on his cheeks and chin, at least a day unshaven. His hair had grown unkempt too, not too much longer, but greasy, and tangled. His eyes were bloodshot, red veins streaking around the iris. He looked hungover.  
  
The door to the room across the plexiglass opened, and he had to keep from chuckling at what a sight he must have been. But the woman staring back at him with determined, hard eyes took no heed. Her light brown hair was curly, and placed in a messy bun. Her brown eyes, almost tinted with a red, examined the carefully placed papers before her, shuffling them slightly. A guard stood behind her, face stoic, and fingers resting just above his handgun.  
  
“My name is Kanami Ishizaki,” She said, glancing up from her papers through her bangs. “I’ve worked in the Astronomical Observatory for quite a few years now, and have, as of late, been studying contractor activity, namely that of Messier Code BK-201.” She pursed her lips, pink lipstick smudging slightly. “Are you BK-201?”  
  
Most contractors knew their Messier Code, somehow. Whether it was fed to them by the people they worked for, who favored a categorical name for their assets rather than human names that would, well, humanize them, or something that they were assigned by whatever government program first captured them, they knew their numbers. Hei could clearly remember when Bai was fist told her Messier Code. It was not a pretty day. He didn’t speak, expression frozen in response to her question. She looked down at her paperwork.  
  
“I know…the original BK-201 wasn’t you, it was girl. Did you know her very well?” No emotion. Remain calm. “Was she your partner? Mother? A cousin perhaps?” He curled his toes, hiding the tension from Ishizaki. Don’t taunt them. The interviewer turned to the guard, speaking to him. She hadn’t turned on the speakers, but Hei could read her lips. She wasn’t getting anywhere. Maybe they should let her try.  
  
The guard nodded, and turned, hiding his mouth from Hei’s view as he mumbled into the radio perched on his shoulder. After a moment the door to the other room opened, and the Astronomics researcher stepped out. Another woman took her place. On the outside, Hei didn’t react at all to the new person, but internally, he could feel…something rise on his cheeks. Shame. Embarrassment perhaps. He had let too mush slip when he played the part of Li Shengshun, and he hoped she had believed it was all a lie.  
  
She hadn’t changed at all since he last saw her. Her eyes were clear and emotive, her lips set in a firm scowl. She wouldn’t take his apathy lightly.  
  
“You know my name,” Misaki said, her voice steady, though, even through the static of the speaker, Hei could hear the underlying venom. She felt betrayed. Cheated. And she had been. “Tell me yours.” Hei blinked, and swallowed.  
  
“Hei-”  
  
“Your real name, no code, no alias. Tell me the name your mother gave you, the name you put on tests and homework for school.”  
  
“My name is Li.” Hei said flatly, the word foreign on his tongue despite its use of an alias. It was his given name, but it didn’t feel like his real name, not after so long.  
  
“Li Shengshun is a known alias of yours, do not play games with me BK-201.” Involuntarily, he clenched his jaw. Her expression changed, she could see his emotions. His anger.  
  
“My father Lin Hai named me Lin Li. I am not BK-201.” Though his voice was steady, he felt as though he spit the words like blood from his lips. They were facts, but facts didn’t have to be right to be true.  
  
Something came over her countenance. Something soft, and compassionate. He now met her eyes, searching for that malice he felt when she first entered the room. There was none, and the damp soulfulness of her gaze revolted him, at first. But he knew that look. He had seen it before. Amber. A pang of sorrow struck his ribs, but he remade his mask, schooling his expression back to calm.  
  
“Were you close to your father?” She asked, her voice soft. Sympathy. Pity. She pitied him. He remained silent. She wasn’t as strong as he thought, not in the way that would make him talk. She glanced at the mirror, the progress of the session slow, but there. The guard received a message on the radio and whispered it to her. A little longer, at least for today. “Li-”  
  
“Do not call me Li.” Hei said simply. He didn’t even remember the boy’s face. “We both know he’s gone.” She tapped her pen against her papers, brow scrunched in thought. She made an odd face, even when thinking only briefly.  
  
“Hei, then, if you’re neither Li nor BK-201,” Her eyes fell, and she took a breath. Hei wasn’t sure what would make her hesitate like that. “Your sister, the one you told me about, the one that went missing…was she BK-201?”  
  
No. His sister was Bai. Lin Bai. A little girl with stars in her eyes and a love for life and breaking rules. Not that contractor with dead eyes who followed orders like a good little soldier. His sister was only there when the contractor slept. He stayed quiet.  
  
“…Hei?”  
  


* * *

It wasn’t something anyone noticed right away. She had a mask of her own, toothy smiles and laughter like a silver bell. But Li knew. He knew when they began walking back home at dawn, and she left her maps on the sand. He could see that something in her eyes had changed. When she would meet his gaze, these was something missing, and something new. Something cold. She didn't go to the lake again.  
  
Bai would fight against baths no matter how muddy she got, but at the porch she washed her feet with the spigot before leaving tracks in the kitchen as she normally did. She would always argue against the school uniform, but the day after she wore it with every button buttoned and shirt tucked. She handed in her homework, studied for her tests.  
  
The teachers praised this change, relieved the trouble student had found a way to excel academically. Their grandparents grew disheartened with her, Bai’s usual enthusiasm for fishing with their Grandfather and embroidering with their Grandmother replaced with an aloof apathy. It hurt their Grandmother the worst, the bed bound woman losing the attention and affection of her only granddaughter taking a toll on her health.  
  
Li would do what he could to cheer the old woman up, even taking up embroidery with her when not tying flies with his Grandfather, but her eyes had changed as well. They dulled, and darkened, some light stolen from them, while her fingers grew stiff and slow, her usual grace and elegance replaced with needle pricks and fumbling.  
  
Bai hadn’t gone to the attic in weeks, dust collecting on the books and posters and telescopes that once consumed her life. She still remembered all the information, Li’s pop quizzes on the circumference of the Earth and the distance of the moon, the names of stars that made the constellations, and astronomical theories answered in a flat and blunt tone. Her passion was gone, that innocent curiosity of the world around her evaporated in a single night.  
  
And he didn’t know why.  
  
“Come home right after school,” Their grandfather chided one day, handing them their lunches. Li sighed.  
  
“What about dance?” The performance was next week. Their grandfather gave a stiff shake of his head, eyes speaking more than his lips. Fear, and cautious trust.  
  
“Not today, I need both you home on the first bus.” His grandfather had always encouraged his dance and practiced Tai Chi with Li every morning, he saw it as a constructive way for a boy his age to be exerting energy and time. This made the warning to avoid the class all the more effective.  
  
Bai didn’t look at them, but she heard them clearly, sitting at the porch step while she pulled her hair into a pony tail. She had read the newspaper on the kitchen table, the missing persons section filled with the bright faces of school children.  
  
Being so far in the forest, Li and his sister had to walk a few miles to reach the nearest bus stop, which would only bring them as far as the nearest city center for school. From there, they had to walk through a maze of concrete and cars and people to reach the school their grandparents paid for. At the close of the day, their classes dismissed, and homework packed, they walked the same path to the bus stop, and waited.  
  
It was a minor bus stop, the trip up into the mountains only taken by a few students and young workers. It sat on the corner of a side street, trash in the damp gutters and alleyways stretching behind the shops and apartments. There was still light out, and the bus would pick them up at any minute.  
  
Li had a habit of drifting off at the bus stop, the street so quiet he could hear it a block away. He listened, eyes closed, for the familiar rattle of chains and straining engine. He heard something in the alley behind them. Turning his head, he listened closer, and fear, like that in his Grandfather’s eyes that morning, rose in his chest.  
  
“It’s a cat,” Bai said, her voice still dull and eyes cast to the concrete. Li looked and did see the kitten, its leg tangled in the plastic from a beer set, mewling pitifully. “Li,” Bai said as he began to walk towards it.  
  
“Just a second, it’s stuck,” He set his bag down at the stop and walked towards the little black cat, which was now hissing as viciously as a kitten could at the incoming boy. Its claws and teeth were sharp, leaving lines of red on his hands and fingers, but with only a little trouble, he managed to let the ungrateful jumble of fluffy black limbs crawl away with all its legs intact, and the snare removed. He turned to show Bai his success. She was gone.  
  
“Bai?” He called, his voice echoing slightly in the alley. “Bai!” He ran out to the street, looking left then right. There. Almost all the way down the block, she walked. Her red winter coat was unmistakable. But the person walking beside her was a stranger, holding her small hand in theirs. He ran after them, breath clouding in the cool winter air. “Bai!” He called out again, and this time she stopped, turning to look at him.  
  
The stranger bolted, dragging the young girl with them as they dived down an alley. Li ran to keep up, but soon found himself lost in the maze of store backs and apartment fire escapes. Panting, and suppressing his panic, he listened.  
  
“Li!” It didn’t sound frantic, or frightened, but she was there. He wove his way towards the sound, breathlessly stopping when he saw the stranger, now clearly a man with a stringy beard and bloodshot eyes, pinning Bai against the grease stained wall of the alleyway, hand over her mouth. It was the back of an apartment building, a little light post illuminating a circle of flickering yellow around them.  
  
“Shut up you little cretin, this’ll be a lot less trouble for the both of us if you stay quiet,” Li felt that panic rise, unable to keep that fear and memory of his Grandfather’s eyes repressed by logic.  
  
“Get away from her!” He screamed, a wave of energy moving him forward as he grabbed the man’s jacket and kicked at his leg. With the wave on an arm the older man quickly knocked Li back, then gave the boy a swift kick to his side. The blow sent him to the ground, every breath aching and the world fading in and out. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Bai watched him from the wall, her eyes changed once more. It was as if she were glowing in the eerie grey light of that cloudy afternoon.  
  
“Two for one,” The man said with a chuckle. “Good thing Mai’s is close, so I won’t have to drag you far-” He yelped in surprise, shaking a bloody hand. Bai had bit him. “You little fucker-” She reached out, glowing more brightly, and grabbed his wrists as he held her by her jacket lapels. Her eyes were red.  
  
There was a surge of something in the air, the way the wind felt right before a thunderstorm, and a smell like static from an old television filled the alley. The little lamp post sparked, then died. The man fell, stiff, his eye sockets smoking, and hair singed. There were marks on his wrists, Bai’s small hand prints burned into the flesh, bone showing. She swayed for a moment, the glow of her skin and in her eyes fading, then she fell.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you're enjoying the story so far! Don't worry, Bai will be in the next one ^.^ I'm trying to keep the perspectives balanced, but to add on Bai's portion of the chapter would have added another 2000 words or so, so I thought it best to stop the chapter there. Special thanks to Panama for their comment! Again, thank you for reading, and let me know if you have any critiques or constructive criticism!


	4. The Fan and the Crane

The village she found was in panic. Though water from the wells was still drinkable, a famine had spread across the former area of Heaven’s Gate. Crops had been left unattended for five years and had been overgrown by the forest. Normally fish and hunting would be able to suffice the villages and towns when crops failed, but the stored food had long ago rotted away, and the animals of the forest were wary of their suddenly new surroundings.  
  
For a long time, Bai sat at the forest line, hidden by the foliage and her dark clothes, contemplating her course of action. The village, Rio Lento, had only about ten homes, and only six families between them. Most of the men and few of the young women had taken a day long hike to the larger town over, Rio Feliz, to see if the two towns could pool resources until international aid arrived. Apparently, the world was quite surprised by the sudden opening of the “inaccessible zone”, and even more so surprised to hear that the people within were alive, for the time being.  
  
The house she eyed had a young mother, or perhaps an older daughter, caring for a child, a five-year-old, who had not had the opportunity to grow mentally in conjunction with his body. The toddler acted like a newborn, and barely spent a moment out of the girl’s arms, for when it did the shrieks and screams seemed to tear the bark from the trees.  
  
The girl was inside, pacing back and forth with the oversized child cradled in her thin, weak arms. Outside, the laundry hung between two twisted trees on a sagging clothesline, damp from the morning dew. The clothes would be a useful disguise and would conceal her identity once she made her way to the larger cities. The question was whether to ask or to steal.  
  
Stealing was something she was used to, something she understood. Simple steps that granted useful items for survival. Get in. Take. Leave no footprints. Go far away. That was it, and it had been something she and her brother did regularly in their work. Then why was she sitting here in the mud, watching through the window a girl maybe a little older than herself carry an oversized baby back and forth instead of taking the opportunity presented?  
  
Bai couldn’t remember the last time she asked for something, and warmly received what she needed. She could barely recall the last time she asked for something. The people she worked for kept her and her brother in good conditions so long as they did good work and asking anything that would interfere with that work had never crossed her mind. But seeing the warmth of candlelight, the way the woman’s lips curved to coo softly to the child, Bai wanted to ask. At least test the idea of receiving instead of deceiving. Her stomach growled, and she made her decision.  
  
The wood of the door was soft, the rains of five years wearing it nearly to rot. For a moment a thought that hadn’t crossed her mind in years surfaced.  
  
‘I must look awful,’ She nearly whispered to herself, her bare feet pale and muddied against the rain-soaked steps, her long hair barely contained by the tie she had used years ago. Circles beneath her eyes, sleep a distant memory, and lips pale from the chill and damp, she probably looked a bit like death.  
  
‘Because you are,’ Some distant memory whispered, but as the door creaked open she managed a smile at the woman’s dark and curious eyes.  
  
“I have been lost in the jungle, and I’m sorry to impose-” The foreign language was a natural reflex to her after so many years, but it still felt rusty on her tongue. The door flew open, golden light from the home, and its warmth, spilling over the doorstep.  
  
“Come in! Come in! You must be freezing, it’s terribly chilly – Mama! Warm up some soup, this poor girl…Please, please take a seat,” The young woman spoke quickly, Bai only able to process so much of her sentences as a hand on her shoulder startled her.  
  
She instinctively flinched away from the touch, but the younger woman paid no heed, leading her by her elbow to a rundown couch in the middle of the main room. The child sat on her hip, strong enough to hold his head up, but his eyes dull and dumb to the people around him. Bai watched the boy’s eyes, transfixed by their bright emptiness. How odd, it must be, to have been a small, blind, deaf, infant one moment, then this stocky, alert, and overwhelmed being the next. His mind had not a year of development, of adjustment to the overstimulation his senses would allow him with age.  
  
The emptiness in his eyes was not a lack of feeling, but an overload of every sense and emotion that small brain could hold. Bai wondered how painful his life might be these next few years, and how many other children and babies in Heaven’s Gate had aged similarly. Her own mind struggled to connect with her longer limbs and fumbling fingers, a child who had grown so much must have been excruciatingly disconnected from their body’s reality.  
  
Wrapped in a warm blanket and still carefully watching the child, Bai accepted the cup of thin broth from an older woman. She walked with a limp, her right foot twisted and back hunched. Gnarled and wrinkled fingers took the child from its young mother, the babe sleeping soundly after the excitement of the stranger’s arrival.  
  
“Where are you from?” The mother asked, her eyes using no subtlety to cast a kind suspicion on Bai’s uniform, her bar code clearly printed across her chest. “You’ve got a bit of an accent, you know,” The younger girl pursed her lips, tasting the rain water that still beaded down her hair onto her face.  
  
“I’m from the United States, I was here, with a friend of mine, we were on a vacation when something happened…” Bai closed her eyes, thinking back to Li, Carmine, Amber, her team, her, friends? “We were on a hike, in the jungle, I think we got separated. I woke up with this thermal suit and couldn’t find anyone, so I kept walking.”  
  
A heat rose on her cheeks, and she hoped it merely appeared to be the warm soup she drank. Embarrassment? No. Shame. She had never felt that way about a lie, especially one that was far sweeter than the truth. Telling the woman that she was a killer, contracted to work with other killers, to fight and kill over the Gate, and was eventually the cause of the five-year stasis, would not go over well.  
  
“My, that sounds terrifying! We all here had something similar happen, but at least none of us were alone when we woke up, you must have been quite shaken up. Tell me, how did you find this place? Our village is far from any hiking trails-”  
  
“Hush,” The old woman whispered, gently stroking the baby’s thick black hair as she rocked him back and forth in her chair. “The poor girl is exhausted, she must rest. Tomorrow the other’s will return from Feliz, they will be able to get her to the city, she will be able to get help for her friends there. But now the child is sleeping, and she should get out of those wet clothes,”  
  
The hoarse whispering voice of the grey-haired woman seemed to stretch out each word, but only moments later Bai lay still on a stiff cot on the second floor, the rough but dry clothes like sandpaper on her skin after so long in her suit. It had been so long since she had changed out of it, the suit imbued with metals and magnets to amplify and focus her power. Laying there, in the dark, and listening to the rain, she felt the static of her abilities surge across her skin, the smell of ozone rising from the thin sheet above her.  
  
Bai tried to recall when she last laid in a bed, let alone slept in one. It had been in an American hotel, in that state of California. Her team was assembling to move over the border together and make their way to the Gate. They would stop at other hotels and motels and villages along the way, but that was the last time she personally had laid in a bed. Her Obeisance led to an odd sleeping rhythm, which often led to her being the night watch and resting her eyes between bus stops and border checks.  
  
She tried to imagine that last night, just outside of San Francisco. Li and she had met up with Amber on the East coast weeks before, and they had just connected with an American contractor and a Canadian a few days ago in Las Vegas. A face flickered in her memory, something sweet, and young, and innocent. She clung to that image, the smell of ozone replaced by the wet greenness of the forest outside. Sleep came in a wave, but it left her on a stormy sea of dreams and half memories.  


* * *

The hospital sheets were so light they felt like paper and were about as comfortable as it too. The wires that dug into her skin and sent beeping signals to the nearby machines itched, but she knew not to grab at them. They were keeping her alive. She could feel the tubes that went through her nose and down her throat, her gag reflex barely in check.

The doctors and nurses were a blur, faceless spouts of information. She had been asleep, in a coma, for about a week. Li was here with her grandfather. Her grandmother wasn’t coming. Her vitals were fine. She could manage solid food. They pulled out the tubes and removed different needles and wires then left. She was alone with the hum of live but quiet machines.

Li raced to her bedside, the door thrown open in a flurry. She always thought he ran strange, his gait graceful but odd, like an actor in a theater prancing to and fro on a stage. He immediately grabbed her hand, squeezing her fingers tight. With her other hand, she reached out and touched his cheek, noticing the tears and puffy eyes. She didn’t look at him for long, her grandfather’s tall and looming presence at the door a distraction from her brother’s overwhelming joy.

“Good morning,” She finally said, her vocal chords tight and voice alien from lack of use. Li chuckled, simply happy to hear his sister’s voice.

“Bai, they were worried you wouldn’t wake up, they didn’t know why you went to sleep, but-but you’re here now, p-promise me you’ll never do something like that again, please, please,” Li's stuttering voice drew Bai to look at her older sibling, the fear in his eyes pleading for her promise.

“Okay,” She said, her voice empty of those emotions that normally color responses to heartfelt pleas. Bai turned to her grandfather again. “Why aren’t you with Grandmother?” Li pressed his forehead to her hand that he still held, whimpering softly. Their grandfather cleared his throat, and she could see his mind through his foggy eyes, trying to find words.

“She, well, we, didn’t know what was going on, the police came by, and she just couldn’t take the shock,”

“But we’re fine.” Bai responded, not seeing how news of their escape and well-being could push their grandmother over the edge. Not that she had much farther to be pushed.

“We didn’t know that, and, you know how much your Grandmother loves you, she just couldn’t bear the idea that you would go, before her, that is,” Their grandfather explained. Bai understood, but that didn’t mean she could empathize. It seemed a bit ridiculous to her, dying, losing your own will to live based on another person’s mere brush with danger. The memory of the man, the smell of burning flesh became fresh in her mind.

“Did he die?” She asked, her sudden change in subject but constant tone unsettling the older man.

“Y-yes,” he stuttered, “They think…there was an electrical surge, and he was touching the lamp post when it happened. Probably the reason why you were in a coma when the police found you, too,” Li’s eyes watching Bai’s, seeing her own blank stare reflect the knowledge he knew.

“But-” Li was cut off as their grandfather put a hand on the boy’s shoulder, silencing his protests.

“The police took your statement, it’s okay, you got hit pretty hard,” Their grandfather said, attempting to comfort the child. Bai squeezed Li's hand, letting him know without speaking her opinion of the events. He slowly pulled his hand from her loose grip. Their grandfather put a hand on her head, ruffling her dark hair. “You should get some rest, they might let you go home tonight,” He said, softly kissing her forehead. Bai nodded, gaze drifting to the door.

“Can I stay?” Li pleaded, glancing back at Bai, “Please, I don’t want to leave her,” The old man sighed at the request, rubbing his face. He had lost so much. He couldn’t lose anymore.

“I’ll be in the waiting room, they’ll let me sleep there, I think, you,” He gave a stern look at Li, “Do as the doctors and nurses tell you. If they need you to leave you leave, if you need to stay out of the way…”

“Stay out of the way,” Li hugged their grandfather, but only lightly in comparison to his usual bear hugs. His ribs were still healing. “Thanks, I’ll get you if we need you,”

Hours passed, doctors and nurses came and went, and by the time the sun was setting every wire and machine had been removed from the room and shut down. Bai was going to be kept overnight, just for observation, but would be able to go home by morning. Li slept peacefully, contorted to be comfortable in the hospital chair beside the bed, snoring softly. Bai felt no urge to sleep, and her body did not require such a recharge after so long resting, so she laid there awake for many hours.

After midnight, near 2:00, the door to the hospital room creaked open, and she peered into the empty, dark hallway. Cautiously, she slipped out of the bed, the floor cold and dry, her legs weak and wobbly. A soft blue glow emanated from her skin, and she felt through the stone and the air. She could feel someone there. She could feel many people in the darkness.

“Hello?” She called out, unaware that Li had opened his eyes, and watched his sister slowly stalk towards the door. There was movement, and in a flash of gentle blue light, she disappeared into the blackness.

“Bai?” He whispered, but no one responded.   


* * *

Hei was thrown to the floor, the soldiers showing far less hospitality on their return trip. He ripped the blindfold from his face, seething at their callousness, but keeping his face stoic. They weren’t happy he had clammed up.

“Woah calm down there buddy,” One of them said, holding up the keys to Hei’s shackles, and a small device on the keyring with them. “Come on, get to the wall, wouldn’t want to leave you in those cuffs, would make it hard to wipe your ass,” Hei clenched his jaw, and reeled back on his heels. Though his intention was to stand up, the recoil must have seemed to the soldiers as some preparation to lunge at them. The one holding the keys pressed a button, and the world was set on fire before fading to black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the lack of update this past Sunday. I had my first exam and wanted to study plenty, I did pretty well on it too ^w^ Special thanks to glassdragonrose and Cacti-Lord, as well as all the guests for the kudos, and Panama for their second review! Again, please let me know if you have any constructive criticism or advice, thank you so much for reading!


	5. Three Swords

Hei awoke with a start, his lungs filling deeply with the stale air of his cell. Dreamless sleep was usually a welcome guest in his mind, but the emptiness of the past hours weighed more heavily on his heart than a thousand nightmares ever could. With a sigh, he struggled to sit up, his limbs stiff and aching from the odd position in which they had been trapped during his sleep. His shackles had been removed, but small blisters formed a circle where the cuffs had burned his wrists and ankles.  
  
He didn’t know what time it was, but he was hungry. Starving, even. He hadn’t eaten since before the Gate. Long spells of unconsciousness made it seem like only a short time he had been captive, but his body ached for food. And water. He had been almost too long without water, the world too bright and loud as the nausea of dehydration drew goosebumps to his forearms.  
  
Hei had been starving before. Missions had gone south, or an employer, dissatisfied with their work, would simply stop providing rations. He could live with it. But it did take a toll, and even crawling to his feet was exhausting. He swayed there for a moment, lightheaded and disoriented. He could hear, something.  
  
The gentle buzz of electricity, a sound of which he had grown innately aware over the years. Every light fixture, kitchen appliance, and mobile device gave off its own unique hum of life. It was a small detail he picked up after Heaven’s Gate, after he acquired contractor abilities. But even now he could still hear the definite sound of electricity, though its distinction from the hum of the white lights above him was blurred by dull senses.  
  
He shuffled toward the sound, steadying himself on the table as he made his way toward the previously silent kitchen sink. Hei managed to reach the counter without collapsing, though his legs shook with effort. He had been fueled by spite and anger and his instincts for so long, he hadn’t realized how quickly his body was deteriorating. It was as if the destruction of the Gate had taken more from him than his abilities.  
  
Placing a hand on the cool faux metal of the faucet, Hei could tell this was the source of the new sound in the room. He tested it slowly, watching the icy water swirl in the plastic basin and down the grated drain. It was cool against his skin, inviting in its refreshing touch. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, his paranoia entertained the idea of poisoning, truth serum, and the other drugs even this pure, clear water could hold.  
  
Hei drank greedily from the sink, no glasses or cups to be found in the sparse room. He washed his face with the water, feeling life return to his senses with the much needed refreshment. He must have stood there too long drinking from the sink, as the water shut off abruptly, the gentle hum of the sink replaced with its usual silence.  
  
Gritting his teeth, he glanced at the small camera behind the sink. They were probably afraid his might hydrate too quickly and give himself water intoxication, but to him it felt like another reminded that he had no control in this prison. He kept flipping the faucet on and off, desperate for some response. Nothing happened. With a sigh, the former mercenary sat at one of the bolted down chairs.  
  
People could only take so much time without the necessities. Of course, there were rare exceptions, but there was a general rule of three. Three minutes without air. Three hours without shelter. Three days without water. Three weeks without food.  
  
Three months without hope.  
  
Whoever had shut off the water decided that in spite of his recent nap, Hei should sleep, and the lights suddenly died, their fading buzz disappearing into the darkness.  
  
He wondered how long he would last.  
  


* * *

Li followed the footsteps to the upper floors of the hospital, his footsteps light and breathing soft to avoid detection. His dance classes had made him nearly silent when creeping about even his old home, and so it wasn’t at all difficult to slide silently across the tile floors without so much as a whisper to betray his presence.  
  
The men that walked around Bai wore black, and in the darkness of these abandoned halls, were only visible by his sister’s blue glow. It was gentle, softly illuminating her skin and shining through the thin hospital clothes. Not anything like the intense light that had emanated from her being before she killed that man.  
  
It still brought bile to his throat at the thought of that smell; the stench burning flesh and hair and melted metal still fresh in his mind. He knew what he saw. Even if none of the adults believed him. And now, stalking silently after his sister as she glowed in the dark, Li couldn’t bring himself to go find his Grandfather, to call for a doctor or nurse and show them he was right. They weren’t going to believe him anyway. And he didn’t know who these strange men were, or where they were taking Bai.  
  
Eventually, the group and his sister traveled up a narrow stair way, Li listening as the door to the roof lets a gush of fresh air into the building. After the door closes behind the last of the men, he scampers up the stairs, footfalls softened by the carpeting. The door had a small window, fogged by humidity, just high enough that Li could peek over its edge without making himself too obvious.  
  
Though the door was heavy, he could hear the men speak, and see a new man, this one in more casual attire, on the roof with them. Bai’s blue glow persisted.  
  
“Yes, she’s definitely the source of Lancelnoptchrotron radiation we detected in this sector,”  
  
“Her abilities?”  
  
“We can’t be sure, your reports said electrical conduction, but she is using her powers now, and there’s no clear evidence of such. We’ll have to study her further to determine the true nature of her abilities. You know this is an incredibly recent phenomenon, and it may take time to be sure-”  
  
“Her code?”  
  
“Ah, yes, Messier Code BK-201. She’s a late bloomer in terms of power display. Most of the other’s we have documented tended to show activity nearly immediately after the event, but new one’s keep cropping up, so we can’t be sure how long she has been effected-”  
  
“Does she have complete control of her abilities?”  
  
“Uh, yes, likely I believe.” There was a moment of silence. The men around Bai shifted their positions, hiding her from Li’s line of sight. His fingers twitched for the door handle, his heart loud in his ears. If he opened the door, they would hear him. His eyes drifted to the helicopter on the roof, its blades still but lights on. If he left to find help, they might leave without him knowing, and he would lose Bai. He wouldn’t have the time to decide.  
  
“Thank you,” One of the men said, the words followed by two soft thuds. The first was a gun with a silencer releasing the bullet, the next a body hitting the floor. Li’s hands were shaking, and even if he wanted to scream or cry or open the door, he was paralyzed with fear.  
  
The men began to walk towards the helicopter, Bai’s blue glow flickering out of existence as she collapsed. Li could barely hear the men mutter amongst themselves.  
  
“…she okay?”  
  
“Fine…asleep,” A man picked Bai’s limp body from the ground, throwing her over a shoulder.  
  
“A little much…killing the doctor,”  
  
“…black market…nobody’ll miss him,”  
  
“…the government…America?”  
  
“No,”  
  
The men soon walked to far away for Li to hear them, but the boy could barely bring himself to watch as they climbed into the helicopter. The man in they had spoken to, the one who knew Bai’s “code” lay dead on the concrete roof. His blood pooled in the dim light of the smog obscured stars, the dark puddle growing larger every second.  
  
In a split moment of action, Li found himself racing toward the helicopter, careful to avoid the still spreading blood of the body. The door clanged shut loudly behind him, but the men in the helicopter could not hear, not with the blades running. The wind swept Li’s hair so violently it hurt, and he shielded his eyes from the dust the machine sent flying as it lifted off.  
  
His chest felt hollowed out as he watched the craft take to the sky, but a determination filled that empty space. He couldn’t lose her. The helicopter stayed low, traveling just above the buildings. With the hospital among the center of the crowded city, Li could easily watch the path the craft took over the buildings. He looked at the building next to the hospital, of similar height but still several feet away from the building’s edge. Li had made a decision.  
  
It was easy at first, the center of the metropolitan area tightly packed and easy to navigate. Though the helicopter traveled at a speed Li could never hope to match, he made it across several blocks, jumping from roof to roof, and scaling fire ladders with agility and grace. The dance he was supposed to perform in later that week was filled with these graceful bounds, except they would be over a solid stage, rather than a hard, cold street several stories below.  
  
Building after building he jumped, vaulting from one to another with ease. However, as the helicopter left the city limits, and the flat, concrete shop rooves devolved into steepled suburban homes, Li was forced to slow down, and eventually, on a small flower shop at the edge of town, stop and watch the helicopter’s blinking lights fade.  
  
He was exhausted, his legs and ankles sore, and his breathing heavy. Tears filled his eyes as he struggled to catch his breath, fear and guilt fueling his choked sobs. Li dropped to his knees and cried, watching the craft disappear over the distant mountains of his home. The sound of an approaching vehicle below caused him to muffle his cries with a hand, the motorcycle slowing to a stop. Through his tears Li could make out the man’s stocky figure, and see the binoculars he held to his eyes.  
  
“Damn it,” The man whispered, a frustrated sigh leaving his lungs as he scanned the horizon. “Where’d they go?”  
  
Li shuffled away from the edge of the roof, aware the man would clearly be able to see him. Unfortunately, the boy knocked over a tin watering can, and only drew the man’s attention. Li sprinted across the roof and shimmied down the fire escape, but, somehow, the man had gotten around the back of the building, and had the boy cornered.  
  
Li’s eyes darted to the left and right, searching for an escape for a second before diving for the alley between the shop and the home next to it. He refused to contain the scream that escaped his lips as the man grabbed his shirt collar and muffled the screams with a gloved hand.  
  
“Shh!” The stranger whispered urgently, restraining the child without hurting him. “Shush, please, I’m not going to hurt you,” This was not very reassuring to Li, who could see the silhouette of a holstered pistol at the man’s side, and a large knife attached to a tactical vest. Regardless, the boy stilled himself, aware he could not escape no matter how hard he tried. A light in the home above turned on.  
  
“Come on,” The man whispered, slipping around the store to head back to the bike. Li hesitated a moment, but the man grabbed his hand and dragged him along.  
  
“Who’s out there?” A muffled voice from the home asked, but Li and the man had made it back to the road undetected. Li wrenched his hand from the man’s iron grip as they approached the motorcycle. The man gave another frustrated sigh, his voice growling in anger.  
  
“You’re the kid from the hospital, right?” The stranger asked, though he clearly knew the answer. “They took your friend, huh?”  
  
“Sister,” Li corrected, his voice hoarse from crying. “Bai, my sister,” The man stood away from Li, his body language showing no indication of hostility, but rather curiosity.  
  
“You ran all the way out here? On the rooves?” He asked, arms folded across his chest. Li looked back at the city behind them and nodded before turning back to the man.  
  
“They took her,” Li whispered, more to himself than the man.  
  
“Do you know why they would take her?”  
  
“You wouldn’t believe me,” The boy answered quickly, defensive of the subject. The man cocked his head to one side and took a nonthreatening step toward the child, looking down at him with sharp, dark eyes.  
  
“She’s special, right? She can do something you’ve never seen someone do before, and then she does something strange afterwards,” Li’s large blue eyes blinked back at the man, and he stiffly nodded in response.  
  
“She sleeps after, after she does it,” The boy whispered, “She sleeps after she glows,” The man knelt down to Li’s level, now close enough to gently hold the child’s shoulders.  
  
“I’m responsible for getting her back, okay? I chased those bad guys all through town like you did, except I had to deal with traffic,” The man removed the biker’s mask that had obscured his face from Li, revealing a cleanly shaven man with a toothy smile and tousled brown hair. “Can you tell me where you saw them go? So I can bring her back?” Li swallowed hard, staring deeply into those bright, black eyes. He pointed towards the mountains.  


* * *

Bai woke to the cries of a child, it’s sobs carrying through the house. It was day now, but the sun barely penetrated the heavy clouds that hung high above the thick forest canopy. The air of the house was humid but smelled sweet. She didn’t want to get up quite yet. It had been so long since she had slept willingly, much longer since she had the opportunity to lay in a warm bed without fear of someone coming to wake her. Soon the child’s cries subsided, and Bai listened to the creatures outside the window.  
  
Birds cackled and screeched at each other somewhere in the forest, the calls of a howler monkey echoing in the distance. Below, on the porch of the house, a dog was barking excitedly, yanking on a chain judging by the jingling that accompanied its frenzied greetings.  
  
Below her the soft voices of two women cooed and hushed the baby, a third, rougher voice whispering quiet encouragement to the child. The travelers of the town must have returned recently, and soon she would be on her way to the city – and then what? For the first time in a long time, Bai had no orders to follow, no plan or scheme to execute. And it scared her. So instead of leaving the bed and starting the day, she laid there and listened to the muttering voices of the family below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Midterms went well, but my motivation was dragged into an alley behind a bar and beaten to death, so sorry for the delay >n< I'm going to be honest I forget how many words per chapter I had been averaging so sorry if this chapter is a little shorter/longer (?) than the rest. Special thanks to KageUncaged, ummmm, ViridisNox, and the many guests for their kudos; and to all you lovelies that comment!


	6. The Paiban

The walk from Rio Lento to Rio Feliz would take almost the entire day. The mother – Maria, her name was Maria – had given Bai several changes of clothes and a pack in which to carry them. The old woman, Mama Isa, had packed her a basket of bread and water. To be fair, Mama Isa had packed several of these baskets for those returning from the neighboring village to take to their homes.  
  
The travelers that had returned that morning were tired, too exhausted form their journey to head out that day with Bai. An older man, by the name of Luiz, would be her guide to the town of Rio Feliz. He knew a shortcut through the jungle that would get her there in time to catch a bus into the city. Or what was left of the city.  
  
According to the returning party, those of Rio Feliz who had driven to the city reported the infrastructure near impossible to cross, the encroaching jungle tearing roots through asphalt roads and trees tearing concrete buildings asunder. Many had died these past few days, collapsing buildings and unstable ground proving fatal to the now panic masses of the city. But aid was coming, at least, according to the radio.  
  
Bai and Luiz left at noon, the sun hazy through the thick clouds. She followed the older man’s steps, careful not to stray too far from where he trod. This path through the trees and brambles was dangerous, the various venomous snakes and poisonous amphibians numerous in this jungle.  
  
Luiz did not speak much, and for that, Bai was grateful. It gave her time to plan. Once in the city, she would no longer be an anonymous face. The international attention of the now open Gate would lead to a standardization. A new census would need to be taken of survivors. She would need proof of identification to leave the country, and even then, there might be cautionary restrictions because of the nature of the Gate.  
  
She could be stuck in this humid country for several years.  
  
It took Bai a moment to realize her guide had stopped longer than his usual pause for a passing snake or distant panther. He was looking up. She followed his gaze, feeling her chest tighten at the sight.  
  
It was a skeleton, hung from a high tree by thin wire. The remnants of a suit, a suit like hers, was nothing but grey tatters framing the bones. A cracked visor covered where the eyes once were. The body swayed in the gentle wind, and a small bird was perched on its shoulder, cooing curiously at the ribcage which might make a wonderful nest.  
  
Luiz muttered a soft prayer, performing the sign of the cross before himself. Roughly translated, he prayed that the man had not suffered, and would face eternal judgement fairly, and that he would not meet the same fate.  
  
She knew him. Bai looked more closely at where they walked, and could see the death play out. It was Misha. MK-9118. He was from Slovenia, a contractor with only two years of field work as a killer. His ability to deliver strong concussive blasts had carved the crater Bai and Luiz now stood in. She didn’t know his Obeisance. But she knew what killed him. Luiz had continued walking, but Bai’s eyes lingered a moment longer on the shining metal wire.  
  
Hei was always particular about his methods, he always limited the targets suffering, even if it was merely a matter of efficiency. The wire was thicker than the weight he would use to immobilize and use for transportation. He likely pulled Misha up into the air with the wire, and tied it off so he could continue moving. Suffocation wasn’t pleasant, but at the angle and weight of that wire, it would have been faster and less painful than bleeding out.  
  
They continued through the shortcut, Bai’s eyes catching the outline of more skeletons and bodies sprawled upon the forest floor. Luiz was clearly unnerved by the sight, but no longer paused. Instead, his whispered prayers accompanied every step and glance, the objective no longer to be cautious but also to escape the greenery as fast as possible.  
  
She followed him, but her eyes and mind wandered. MK-2934, from Norway, flora manipulation. WY-3955, American, could harden his skin like steel. OP-2945, the Philippines, she hit back with twice the force you hit her with. More and more bodies, dead contractors. Some she knew the names of, some she didn't. Bai had killed some of them, their empty eye sockets whispering hurt and anger through the rustling leaves.  
  
Luckily, the short cut _was _a short cut. Rio Feliz suddenly erupted into view, and the two carefully scaled the slippery slope down to the village’s valley. Rio Feliz was much larger than Rio Lento, and more heavily populated even by Bai’s quick assessment of the many multistory homes and the small church cross that stood above the dull homes.__  
  
The walk had only taken a few hours, compared to the safer but absurdly longer path along the road that would have detoured the mountainous terrain filled with bodies. Bai hadn’t realized how close their war was to these villages. The only reason they, hopefully, didn’t know about the violence that occurred was because of how dense the forest was. Perhaps a stray scream or gunshot rang out in the dark of night, but nothing discernable from the howls of birds and monkeys.  
  
They were just in time for Bai to catch the last bus to the city, the seats packed. The passengers were tired and gaunt, their eyes filled with hope and fear and a dull pain. These people were travelling to bring medicine back to the villages, to bring whatever food rations they could obtain back to their families. Bai was the only one leaving with no intent of returning.  
  
Some were mothers, cradling small toddlers with empty eyes in their arms. Others were young men, shifting uncomfortably in the too close seats. An old man, blind and thin, sat at the front of the bus, cane steadying his shaking form. For a moment, Bai imagined him simply disintegrating into dust, the same ashy color as his skin.  
  
But the bus sped off without a care, the sun still warm in the blue sky above. The bus ride was much faster than Bai had expected, the twisting jungle roads suddenly falling away to reveal open fields over grown by saplings fading into the outer suburbs before abruptly transitioning to narrow city streets.  
  
The bus was forced to stop before reaching the city center, streets thick with pedestrians and other vehicles. Many of the passengers, and Bai, disembarked here. The crowds made it easy for her to disappear without a trace, but her mind was still racing for an escape. She needed to leave the country. She needed to find him.  
  
The center of the city was an open green, likely a park of some nature in the past, but was now the staging station for several aid and relief centers. Some desks handed out food and bottled water, others served as triage centers for those injured or sick. UN soldiers milled about, weapons holstered but armored vests heavy with gear. There had to be planes or helicopters somewhere.  
  
Light footed and lacking any distinguishing characteristics, it was easy for Bai to weave her way around the military. They had control of the nearby airport, where native planes had been grounded by degradation during the past five years, so only foreign crafts were entering and leaving the country.  
  
Even from her distance, Bai could tell security was tight. Listening to the radio chatter, it was clear no one was allowed in or out of the previously uninhabitable zone. PANDORA was running tests. She couldn’t hold back a grimace, recoiling at the name of the organization.  
  
They had tried to kill her. They had tried to kill Hei. They had killed so many contractors. So many friends. And she had tried to stop them. She thought she had succeeded, that she could stop them again if she needed to, but they had won. They had won and now she was more alone than she had ever been-  
  
She needed to focus. Find an exit. Follow through. Escape.  
  
It was easy for her to hide away in an empty supply crate, years of contractor work making the plan routine. The crates were loaded into a cargo plane, which would fly back to Mexico to pick up another round of supplies. The cargo hold would get incredibly cold, but she had her abilities to keep her warm. She shifted the air particles around herself, the friction keeping the crate considerably warmer than the freezing air around it.  
  
Food and water weren’t a problem, the packed bread and water from Rio Lento enough to hold her over until the plane reached its destination. The bread was delicious, heavy and filling. Sweet. The water contained some local bacteria and metal impurities, but she was quick to purge it to a more pure and palatable drink.  
  


* * *

Skin glowing gently in the darkness, Bai fell asleep to the hum of the engines. She could rest for a few moments, the trip would take hours, after all.  
  
She woke up during the helicopter ride. She did not trust these men in black. They spoke of national security, the Chinese government, and so forth. They seemed cautious, unsure how to speak to her. That much Bai could understand in their nervous glances and careful cadence.  
  
They were heading to a “secure location” in the mountains. Far from home. Far from Li. When she asked when she would see him again, the silence of the men was all the answer she required. Bai didn’t want to leave him. Not yet. He understood, to some extent, why she felt so empty and cold.  
  
It was irrational, and dangerous. But she let that surge of power overcome her senses and short circuit the craft’s systems. Consoles sparked, the hum of the blades went silent and for a brief moment, the craft was suspended in the air, quiet and weightless. Then in fell.  
  
She remembered men screaming. The world spinning in every direction as she tried to ground herself against the cushioned seats. The ground was fast approaching, and she could feel the glow of her skin dance around like lightning. Glass shattered, metal twisted, men burned, but she was safe in that bubble of buzzing light.  
  
Walking away from the crash was harder than surviving it. Broken glass cut her feet, even brushing briefly against the contorted metal burned. She didn’t cry, the glow still working at her wounds and repairing the flesh. A surviving suit, the one who had killed the man on the hospital roof, crawled shakily to his knees. The man was bleeding profusely from a head wound, glasses smudged with blood.  
  
“S-Stay back!” He cried out, hands fumbling for his gun. Bai stayed back. She realized he was waiting for her glow to subside and that overwhelming wave of sleep to take her. She couldn’t stay still for much longer. It was a standoff.  
  
The solid thunk of a heavy knife sinking into flesh and cutting between bones was a satisfying sound. Bai still glowed, looking to the new threats. Behind the masked man was Li. With a sigh, she relented to the darkness eating at her vision like rust on iron. She didn’t know if Li had caught her before she hit the ground or not.  
  


* * *

Hei had finally worked up the motivation to shower. If he was going to survive this dreary and empty existence, he needed to keep some semblance of routine and humanity. He wasn’t too concerned about the multiple cameras, he just needed to feel clean. It had to have been a few days since he had last showered.  
  
At some point in the darkness of the artificial night the cell allotted, power to the water systems had been restored, seemingly permanently. Given such freedom, he took the opportunity to shower for more than an hour. The water had two temperatures, regardless of the gradient setting, those being scalding and freezing. Hei choose the former, the hot water relaxing tense muscles and turning pale skin pink.  
  
There was no soap, but he didn’t mind. The temperature of the water alone felt as though it burned away any impurities. However, the lack of towels to dry himself and a change of clothes was bothersome. Hei eventually resorted to using the thin bed sheets and changing back into the clothes he had woken up with.  
  
The biggest surprise was the styrofoam box waiting in front of the door when he finally exited the shower/bathroom section of the cell. The running water had hidden the sound of the open door, and they had used the cameras to make sure he didn’t surprise whatever soldier had been given the task of leaving the box.  
  
His usually instincts of caution and paranoia nagged in the back of his mind, but the smell of the food was too enticing to ignore. It was cheap food, deep fried chicken and rice. If he wasn’t as hungry as he was, it probably would have been too saturated with grease to be happily consumed.  
  
They had left no utensils, no chopsticks or spoons, but it didn’t matter. Hei practically licked the meal box clean in a matter of minutes, part of him still hungering for several servings more. But this was all he would get, it appeared. So he pushed the box back to the door and ran hot water from the sink over his hands in an attempt to clean off the grease.  
  
Footsteps approached the door. Three sets.  
  
He turned off the water but stood still at the sink, face settling into that trained, blank stare. From his peripheral vision he watched the heavy door swing open, a soldier stepping through to retrieve the box. One other watched from the doorway, rifle at his side. Hei knew the woman in the blue suit with sad brown eyes was watching from just behind the second soldier.  
  
He still couldn’t tell what those heavy hearted eyes tried to say. Pity, yes, but something else. Resentment? Perhaps. Betrayal? Definitely. But there was something else. A little light of curiosity, the acceptance of some unsaid challenge. She wouldn’t leave him be until she was satisfied with her knowledge.  
  
The first soldier retreated to the other side of the door, and began to close the exit. An impulse traveled from his mind to his mouth faster than he could stop it.  
  
“Thank you,” Hei said, words so soft he doubted she could hear him. Maybe she did. But the door closed nonetheless.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk why this took me so long lol. Special shout out to Panama for their comment! As well as a thanks to Mugges, MoonBlod, kytzia, Gwachaedir, ArchangelsTalons, and all of you guests for your lovely kudos!


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